Europe, Headlines, Human Rights

MEDIA: European Policies Put Under the Lens

Zoltán Dujisin

KIEV, Mar 11 2005 (IPS) - A conference took a close look Thursday at what European media can do by way of reporting issues such as terrorism and globalisation, and defending human rights in the information society.

The matters were raised at the seventh European Ministerial Conference on Mass Media Policy that began in Kiev, Ukraine, under the theme ‘Integration and Diversity: the new frontiers of European media and communication policy’.

Media representatives, activists and officials from the 46 member states of the Council of Europe (COE) are attending the two-day conference.

Delegates welcomed the choice of Kiev for hosting the event, though the decision was taken two years ago. The conference sent a clear message that Ukraine’s recent political transition had opened up new opportunities for media in the region, and that it could become an example for its neighbours – a clear allusion to countries such as Russia and Belarus, though the latter is not a COE member.

The conference was opened by Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko, whose unscheduled appearance took many by surprise. Yushchenko promised that Ukraine would give international media "access to the most precise and truthful information about this European country.”

The first sub-theme of the conference, ‘defining the rights and responsibilities of the media in times of crisis’, focused on the role of the press in war situations, and particularly in the ‘war on terrorism’.

Former BBC chief news correspondent Kate Adie delivered the keynote address. "Not reporting their (the terrorists) activities does more harm than good," she said. "Countless acts of terrorism go unnoticed, and the consequence of press silence is greater gossip and speculation, resulting in more insecurity."

Adie pointed to the "bad example from the other side of the Atlantic." The U.S. media, she said, has "faced most hostile reactions whenever it questions U.S. administration measures." It now faces a "crude loyalty test."

Adie, who covered the first Gulf War, spoke of the danger of ’embedded’ media alignment with the military in times of war: "It draws us into the conflict, making us targets," she said. She conceded that this type of coverage was needed at times, but said it should be accompanied by "full access to information" and by simultaneous coverage of "the other side".

She warned that a fear of terrorist attacks could allow for a "wider tolerance regarding false information", and the loss of other ethical values for journalists.

Members of the Russian delegation challenged this argument. "Terrorists take advantage of the mass media in order to terrify people, moving the battlefield to television screens," a delegate countered.

Discussion on the second sub-topic, ‘cultural diversity and media pluralism in times of globalisation’ opened with a presentation by the Swedish delegation headed by Kerstin Persdotter, director of the ministry of culture’s media division.

Persdotter stressed the need for "strong and independent public service broadcasting as opposed to state-owned television or purely commercial media."

All participants echoed her concerns about the control of the media market. "The concentration of media (ownership) is a threat to diversity," Persdotter said, and called for a common European media law to address this issue.

She also drew attention to the lack of regulatory agencies in the media field, and proposed the creation of broadcasting regulators as effective public instruments against the threat that the "acceleration of concentration of the media in a few hands" poses to diversity and multiculturalism.

Several other speakers demanded the inclusion of education on mass media as a part of this common European law, in order to give the public the right instruments for critical analysis.

Persdotter acknowledged that regulating media concentration is not easy. "It’s very tricky to regulate what someone can buy or not," she told IPS. Media giants "always find a way around rules."

In a debate on the third issue of ‘defending human rights in the information society’, the conference noted that increased access to mass media as a result of modern technology had provided opportunities for individuals to express their opinions. But it concluded that information technologies had also meant abuse of many human rights through decreased privacy and the facilitation of organised crime.